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Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Evangelicals - The Evening Descends

It seems that a dammed stream of viable indie rock has been unblocked in the opening month of 2008, releasing an array of solid albums each with their own wonderful quirks. Of the quickly flowing lot, Evangelicals’ sophomore release, The Evening Descends, is undoubtedly the cream of the crop. If the record were a super hero trading card the stats, spanning ratings from one to ten on the back, would run something like this: Melodic Agility – 10, Loveable Charm – 10, Quirkiness – 10, Astral Beauty – 9, Indie Rock Danceability – 9. Essentially the stats speak for themselves: Evangelicals are a band to be reckoned with (playing card wise). But what makes the band so sugary delicious is that they aren’t fighters; The Evening Descends is an album for lovers. That’s right (!), Evangelicals are pulling on heart strings here. These aren’t really romantic heart strings though; they’re strings that resonate of the fresh beauty of life. It seems almost impossible not to just absolutely love life when you are listening to this album. Seriously, the United States could become infested with a ravenous zombie infection, mad scientists could accidentally release a pack of wild man eating rabbits and Hilary Clinton could win the Democratic bid for President and I could still just feel like baby puppies and flowers when listening to this album. Yeah, it’s a life affirmer and though it isn’t a rookie card, The Evening Descends definitely deserves one of those super thick plastic cases to keep the whole thing mint and perfect for your fireplace mantle. I don’t know if there is much more praise I can heap up on to this thing – it just contains the perfect amount of pure indie rock, charming experimental quirks and a good ‘ole fashion dash of surreal diamond dust that allows the whole thing to just float you as if it were Tinker Bell’s magical powder seeping out of your headphones. It is only February and Evangelicals have already secured a spot within my top ten of 2008. (PS – Favourite album cover for a long time too.)